Gov. Sarah Palin's signature accomplishment a contract to build a 1,715-mile pipeline to bring natural gas from Alaska to the Lower 48 emerged from a flawed bidding process that narrowed the field to a company with ties to her administration, an Associated Press investigation shows.

Sarah Palin and her husband have pieced together a uniquely Alaskan income that reached comfortably into six figures even before she became governor, capitalizing on valuable fishing rights, a series of land deals and a patchwork of other ventures to build an above-average lifestyle.

Sarah Palin and her husband have pieced together a uniquely Alaskan income that reached comfortably into six figures even before she became governor, capitalizing on valuable fishing rights, a series of land deals and a patchwork of other ventures to build an above-average lifestyle.